The 15 Most Iconic '80s Movie Actresses

Summary '80s actresses like Jami Lee Curtis and Kathleen Turner were pivotal in shaping the decade's cinematic landscape with iconic performances.

Trailblazing stars like Oprah Winfrey and Carrie Fisher left a lasting impact, breaking barriers and redefining female roles in film.

Actresses like Michelle Pfeiffer and Glenn Close showcased their versatile talents, earning critical acclaim and multiple Oscar nominations.

The most iconic '80s actresses helped define the decade and ensured 1980s movies had a lasting legacy. The '80s were a pivotal turning point in Hollywood. Equity feminism began to take force, and the basis for what became third-wave feminism in the '90s slowly took root. Hollywood saw the return of studio-driven films and blockbuster tent-poles after the auteur-focused New Hollywood era of the 1970s. Teen movies achieved their peak, and some of the most enduring and beloved franchises made their big-screen debuts. This opened the door for several '80 actresses to carve out their status as icons of the decade.

The 1980s gave audiences a cultural treasure-trove of riches for cinematic content, and several high-profile actresses were at the center. These women ruled the '80s, carving out screen personas that would stand the test of time and turning them into cinematic icons. They proved they could play the main roles in romantic comedies, outshining their acting counterparts. These actresses also proved they could hold their own in action movies, dramas, and horror movies, and they led the way for a revolution for women in film.

Related 10 Most Oscar-Nominated Actors Of The 21st Century The best actors working today are often the ones with the most Academy Award nominations across the past two decades.

15 Joan Chen

Chen Starred In The Last Emperor

Joan Chen began her career in China during the late 1970s. She rose to international prominence with her performance in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 epic The Last Emperor, a massive critical success that won all of its nine nominations at the 60th Academy Awards. That movie followed the child Emperor Puyi and his forced rise to power and subsequent fall. Chen played his bride, Wanrong. While The Last Emperor received universal praise, it didn't receive any acting nominations, but Chen went on to have a solid career nonetheless.

Chen would co-star in another Hollywood production, 1989's The Blood of Heroes, cementing herself as a familiar actress for Western audiences. Chen's success would continue into the 1990s and 2000s, combining movies in Hollywood and China. She had great success after the 1980s, winning awards for movies like Red Rose, White Rose, Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, The Home Song Stories, and The Sun Also Rises​​​. Her notable recent roles include starring in the 2023 FX mystery drama A Murder At The End Of The World.

14 Oprah Winfrey

Winfrey Earned An Oscar Nomination For The Color Purple

Looking at her career, Oprah Winfrey remains best known for her role as a major television star and one of the most powerful women in Hollywood. Indeed, she's one of the longest-running television hosts, with her talk show lasting 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. However, Winfrey rose to prominence during the mid-80s, earning an Oscar nomination for her supporting turn in The Color Purple. This was an important role in her career as she played Sofia and later produced a remake in 2023, with Danielle Brooks taking on that role.

Her name quickly became synonymous with the '80s, cementing her as one of the decade's undeniable icons.

Oprah Winfrey only appeared in two more movies in the 1980s (Native Son and The Women of Brewster Place), and mainly focused on television afterward. However, her name quickly became synonymous with the '80s, cementing her as one of the decade's undeniable icons. She has since used her name to produce movies like Beloved, Precious, and Selma.

13 Jamie Lee Curtis

The 1980s Iconic Scream Queen

Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut as the ultimate final girl, Laurie Strode, in John Carpenter's seminal slasher Halloween in 1978. Establishing herself as a scream queen, Curtis later played leading roles in several other slasher movies in the 1980s, including Prom Night, Terror Train, and Halloween II. It ran in the family, as her mother Janet Leigh starred in what many consider the first slasher movie in Psycho in 1960. However, she wasn't just a horror icon and went on to have a varied career.

The 1983 comedy Trading Places earned her a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress while providing some much-needed diversity to her resume, paving the way for her to become one of the most popular 80s actresses. In 1988, she received further critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for her role in the beloved heist comedy, A Fish Called Wanda. While it took her many years to get there, Curtis finally won an Oscar in 2023 for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

12 Maggie Cheung

Cheung Appeared In 34 Movies In The 1980s

Maggie Cheung was one of Hong Kong's most famous '80s actresses. After placing second at the 1983 Miss Hong Kong Pageant, she began her acting career, moving on to movies shortly after. Cheung achieved critical acclaim in the late 1980s with the films Full Moon in New York and Red Dust, two movies for which she won the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Golden Horse Awards, respectively. This was just part of her 80s movie career, as she appeared in 34 movies from 1984 to 1989.

Cheung was a frequent co-star of Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat

Cheung was a frequent co-star of Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat, appearing in Police Story and its sequel with the former and The Seventh Curse and The Romancing Star with the latter. Cheung's career continued thriving well into the 2000s, eventually retiring in 2013. Along the way, she won several Best Actress Awards for movies like Center Stage, Comrades: Almost a Love Story, The Soong Sisters, and the Wong Kar-wai masterpiece, In the Mood For Love.

Related The Most Popular Movie Every Year Of The '80s, According To Letterboxd Letterboxd users have some interesting picks for their most popular movies of any given year, especially when looking at the iconic 1980s.

11 Alfre Woodard

Woodward Was An Oscar Nominee For Cross Creek

Despite critics considering her one of the most versatile and accomplished '80s actresses, Alfre Woodard remains unjustly underrated. Woodard earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for 1983's Cross Creek and won the Primetime Emmy for her role in Hill Street Blues. Part of what makes many critics overlook her is that Woodard spent most of the decade as a highly acclaimed television actress and had notable smaller roles in films like 1988's Scrooged and 1989's Miss Firecracker.

Woodard remains acting today. She has taken on no less than three roles in the MCU, with an important secondary role in Captain America: Civil War, a villain role in Netflix's Luke Cage, and the voice role of Mimi in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. She also had big TV roles in State of Affairs and See and starred in movies like The Book of Clarence, The Gray Man, and the upcoming remake of Salem's Lot.

10 Sigourney Weaver

From Aliens To Ghostbusters

After her breakthrough role in 1979's Alien, Sigourney Weaver dominated the '80s. The first half of the decade saw her play leading roles in critically acclaimed films like The Year of Living Dangerously and blockbusters like Ghostbusters. She would climb to the peak of her success in the decade's second half, receiving Academy Award nominations for three of her most successful films: 1986's Aliens (Best Actress) and 1988's Gorillas in the Mist (Best Actress) and Working Girl (Best Supporting Actress).

Weaver would say goodbye to the decade by reprising her role as Dana Barrett in 1989's Ghostbusters II, cementing her place as one of the most iconic '80s actresses.

Weaver would say goodbye to the decade by reprising her role as Dana Barrett in 1989's Ghostbusters II, cementing her place as one of the most iconic '80s actresses. While the Oscar nominations were over when it came to Weaver, she continued to get big roles for the next three decades, returning to both the Alien and Ghostbusters franchises and also picking up big roles in Galaxy Quest, Avatar, A Monster Calls, and the MCU series The Defenders.

9 Carrie Fisher

A Star Wars Icon

Carrie Fisher became an instant star thanks to her role in George Lucas' 1977 space opera Star Wars. As Leia Organa, Fisher redefined the role of the female lead in action-adventure movies. She quickly became an '80s icon, thanks to her instantly memorable fashion and hairstyle, active role in the story, and influence on other female characters. Fisher's career post-Star Wars consisted of supporting roles in numerous films.

Carrie Fisher also became a successful author, screenwriter, and script doctor.

Other than Star Wars, her biggest roles in the '80s came in Hannah and her Sisters and When Harry Met Sally. Carrie Fisher also became a successful author, screenwriter, and script doctor. While she mostly stepped back as a full-time actor, she still took on roles in her later years, including a return to the Star Wars franchise for the sequel trilogy, although she died before the last movie in the franchise was released into theaters.

8 Jennifer Beals

Beals Is Best Known For Flashdance

Although she didn't act in many major movies, Jennifer Beals remains one of the most well-known '80s actresses. Beals debuted in My Bodyguard (1980) before achieving international fame with 1983's Flashdance. The film received negative reviews from critics but was a surprising box office success, earning Beals a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress - Musical or Comedy. The movie has since become one of the most beloved 80s musical movies and Beals remains known to this day for that role.

Beales appeared opposite Sting in 1985's The Bride and played a leading role in 1989's Vampire's Kiss, one of Nicolas Cage's most underrated movies. While she never replicated Flashdance's success, the film was enough to cement her reputation as one of the most beloved 80s actresses. Beals enjoyed a career resurgence over the past few years, with roles in Taken, Swamp Thing, The L Word: Generation Q, The Book of Boba Fett, and Law & Order: Organized Crime.

Related 10 Great 1980s Movies That Wouldn't Work In Any Other Decade The Brat Pack, high school romance, and comical villain plots of several movies from the 1980s would not have been as popular in a different decade.

7 Whoopi Goldberg

Goldberg Picked Up An Oscar Nomination For The Color Purple

In 1985, Whoopi Goldberg received her breakthrough thanks to her performance as Celie in Steven Spielberg's period drama The Color Purple. Goldberg's work earned her an Oscar nomination, making her the only Black woman to earn a Lead Actress nomination during the '80s. While Goldberg lost to Geraldine Page for her role in The Trip to Bountiful, Goldberg picked up a second Oscar nomination five years later and won this time for her supporting turn in the supernatural romantic drama Ghost.

Between 1985 and 1988, Goldberg made seven films, including Penny Marshall's directorial debut, Jumpin' Jack Flash.

Between 1985 and 1988, Goldberg made seven films, including Penny Marshall's directorial debut, Jumpin' Jack Flash. A gifted comedian, Goldberg also hosted multiple HBO Comic Relief specials alongside fellow comedians Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. In 2002, Goldberg became one of the few actors to achieve the EGOT, winning a Grammy in 1986 for a comedy album, an Oscar in 1990 for Ghost, and both a Tony (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and Emmy (Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel) in 2002.

6 Jessica Lange

Lange Won The Oscar For Tootsie

One of the most lauded 80s actresses, Jessica Lange had her breakthrough in the 1976 King Kong remake. However, her most successful year would be 1983, thanks to her roles in Tootsie and Frances. She received Oscar nominations for both and won Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie. Lange would receive another two nominations during the '80s for Country and Sweet Dreams. While her filmography during the second half of the decade included mostly low-budget films, her performances were always highly praised.

Lange has continued her success, and picked up two more Oscar nominations in the 90s, winning her second for Blue Sky. She has since become a mainstay on horror television as one of the most beloved recurring actors in the American Horror Story franchise. Throughout her roles in the series, she won a Golden Globe Award for the debut season, with three other nominations and two Primetime Emmy wins for the first season and for Coven, with three other nominations.

5 Molly Ringwald

The 80s Teenage Rom-Com Queen

To this day, Molly Ringwald remains the undisputed queen of teen films. Thanks to the consecutive triple act of Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, Ringwald established herself as a teen movie star and an icon for an entire generation. Ringwald's later films, including The Pick-Up Artist and For Keeps, were commercially successful, cementing her place as one of the biggest box office draws of the decade.

Her career waned in the '90s after infamously turning down the lead roles in Pretty Woman and Ghost, but she began to play into her reputation with her roles later in life.

Her career waned in the '90s after infamously turning down the lead roles in Pretty Woman and Ghost, but she began to play into her reputation with her roles later in life. She cameoed in Not Another Teen Movie, which spoofed many of her teenage comedies, took on a role in Jem and the Holograms, and then played an adult role in a new teen comedy franchise, as Mrs. Flynn in The Kissing Booth trilogy. She also played Mary Andrews in The CW series Riverdale.

4 Kathleen Turner

Turner Earned An Oscar Nomination For Peggy Sue Got Married

Kathleen Turner rose to prominence at the beginning of the decade thanks to her performance in Lawrence Kasdan's neo-noir, Body Heat. A string of commercial and critical successes followed, including Romancing the Stone, Prizzi's Honor, The Accidental Tourist, The War of the Roses, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? For her performance in the 1986 comedy Peggy Sue Got Married, Turner received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Despite a slight career slowdown in the '90s after her rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, Turner has been a steady presence on TV and in the occasional film ever since and is perhaps best known more recently for her role in The Kominsky Method. He also appeared in the TV shows Californication and in 2022 made a rare return to the movies, with The Swearing Jar and The Estate.

Related The 10 Highest-Grossing Movies Of The 1980s The 1980s was a huge year for blockbusters, including Indiana Jones and Star Wars, but some of the decade's highest-grossing movies come as a surprise

3 Michelle Pfeiffer

Pfeiffer Enjoyed Her Breakout In Scarface

Often considered one of the most beautiful faces ever to grace the silver screen, Michelle Pfeiffer's filmography proves she's also a versatile and eclectic performer. She received her first major role in Grease 2 (1982), but her true breakout came in Brian de Palma's 1983 crime film Scarface as a cocaine-addicted trophy wife to Al Pacino's Tony Montana. She also appeared in the cult classic The Witches of Eastwick before receiving critical acclaim for her role in Jonathan Demme's 1988 comedy Married to the Mob.

Her career would carry on through the '90s, when she picked up her third Oscar nomination for Love Field.

Pfeiffer received two consecutive Oscar nominations for her supporting role in 1988's Dangerous Liaisons and her leading turn in 1989's The Fabulous Baker Boys. Her career would carry on through the '90s, when she picked up her third Oscar nomination for Love Field. Despite a short break in the middle of the 2000s, she returned stronger than ever, recently receiving a Golden Globe nomination for her leading role in the 2020 dark comedy, French Exit. She also joined the MCU as Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp.

2 Glenn Close

Close Earned 5 Oscar Nominations In The 80s

Glenn Close had one of the most successful and critically acclaimed filmographies of any '80s actress. After a successful run on Broadway, Close made her film debut in 1982's The World According to Garp, receiving a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. She received two more Oscar nominations the next two years, for The Big Chill and The Natural, before transitioning into leading lady status.

Two of Close's most memorable roles, Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction and the Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons, earned her two Lead Actress Oscar nominations to close out the decade, meaning she had five Oscar nominations in seven years - for the first five movies she ever starred in. Close would go on with her successful career but has yet to win an Oscar, despite eight nominations. Her most recent nomination came in 2021 for Best Supporting Actress for Hillbilly Elegy.

1 Meryl Streep

Streep Has A Record 21 Oscar Nominations

Meryl Streep stands as Hollywood's most acclaimed actress. She holds the record for most Academy Award nominations, a staggering 21, winning three (Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice, and The Iron Lady). It all began in 1978, when she picked up her first nomination for The Deer Hunter, but in the 1980s, Streep established herself as the best actress of her generation with six Oscar nominations in the decade. Her films during this decade include The French Lieutenant's Woman, Sophie's Choice, Silkwood, Out of Africa, Ironweed, and A Cry in the Dark.

Streep's career is still as strong, if not stronger than it was back in the '80s.

Streep's career is still as strong, if not stronger than it was back in the '80s. Most recently, she had starring roles in Little Women, Don't Look Up, and the TV shows Big Little Lies and Only Murders in the Building. Looking back at her career, it's undeniable that she was one of the most iconic 80s actresses and one of the most prominent actresses in the history of cinema.